a new dress for the general

"What makes you think we would ever agree to such nonsense?"

Red faced and anger brightened eyes, the Kings faced each other around the ornate table. Kiera was tired of the same situations arising whenever they met for another round of peace talks. As soon as the human kings' voices rose, she would see the flash of golden rings as their fingers rose to point, accusing the others of some arbitrary offense.

This time wasn't so different either. Except someone was suspiciously absent from today's discussion.

As the meeting dragged on, Prince Sam was nowhere to be seen. An hour into the discussion and it became apparent to her that the Third Prince would not show up at all.

Standing on either side of their King, Kiera and Helios watched with stony expressions as the other kings began slinging harsh profanities at each other. If Gaspar was with them, he might have been openly laughing as the kings attacked each other.

Helios didn't bother concealing his yawn, he actually made a scene out of it. The action was not unlike him, but it still caught Kiera's eye.

"Yes, I too grow tired of such display." King William kept his gaze on the conflicting kings in front of him as he spoke to his two generals.

"Should we leave then?"

The King of Beasts was pensive before he shook his head of golden brown hair.

"Not so fast Helios. It seems like today will end differently. Let's watch."

Kiera looked along with her king and fellow general. She was skeptical of the King of Beast's prediction, but she was quickly shown how wrong she was.

"If I may interject," a royal advisor of one of the human kings steps up, his voice rang clear even among the noise from the fight between kings. Kiera had noted the advisor always arrived well dressed to the discussions. He was a handsome man, clean shaven with no single fault in sight.

He was able to bring silence into the room of loud and disorderly kings.

"Today marks the end of one full month since we gathered to redraft the peace treaty. We all must be tired of drawn out discussions, I would like to suggest a break from the discussions for something a bit more entertaining."

"What do you have in mind?" One of the kings asked the advisor who bowed his head as he was allowed to continue speaking.

"My suggestion is that we throw a ball, to loosen up any tension between the kingdoms."

The room all looked towards the Solomon King for his approval, as he had the final say in the matter. He seemed hesitant at first, but after giving it some thought, the Solomon King ultimately allowed the preparations to begin.

Kiera shook her head, incredulous that the result of today's discussion was a ball.

***

"The Solomon King really approved?" Jade asked her, disbelief written on her face.

"Not another one," Cody huffed and fell back onto the training ground, blowing up a cloud of dust. "I thought we would have gone back home by now."

"A ball is different from a banquet," Jade explained.

"I don't care. A ball, a banquet. They're all the same. These human kings are being ridiculous if they think a ball is going to get them to come to an agreement."

Kiera ignored the complaints from her third captain.

"The ball will take place in three days. We must all be in attendance to show that the Beast Kingdom is invested in the continuing peace."

She stared hard at her two captains. It dawned on her that one of them was missing.

"Where is Bryan?"

Cody shrugged his shoulders while Jade simply shook her head.

"We barely see him after training. He doesn't talk much you know."

Kiera nodded. Cody's words did make sense. Bryan had always been a man of very few words, but it still unnerved her how she didn't notice the absence of her first captain.

"If any of you two see him, be sure to pass on the news."

She only left once her captains indicated they understood.

"General!"

She turned around when she heard Jade running after her.

"What is it Captain? Have something to report?"

Jade shook her head, nervousness written on her face.

"I just wanted to see if you had any plans today."

"I don't believe I have made any important plans for today. Why?"

She looked somewhat relieved at her words but she still shyly tucked a stray ringlet of hair behind her ear.

"Do you think you can come with me to a tailor? I am too nervous to go by myself. I feel like I'd be laughed out of the building if I were to go alone."

She was looking down and playing with her fingers as she asked the Beast General.

"This might seem incredibly stupid to you, but I wanted to try on some of the dresses that I saw the other day."

"Y-you can say no if you want. If you have better things to do-"

"Jade." She placed a hand on her captain's shoulder, and she looked up at Kiera. "I would gladly accompany you."

Kiera smiled at her captain's joy-filled expression.

The tailor Jade took her to was a lavish building, a lot different than Kiera was expecting.

Regardless, the dresses that were lined behind the window were beautiful. Her captain needed an extra push to go inside the building but once the door opened and she stepped inside, they were whisked away by the store manager.

"Welcome ladies, what kind of style of dresses are you interested in looking at today?"

Jade seemed overwhelmed by the sheer number of dresses inside the store that she couldn't speak.

"This is our first time here." Kiera took control of the conversation, stepping up to help her fumbling captain. "Show us the latest dresses. Price doesn't matter."

As soon as those words left her mouth, the manager ushered them into another room. They were seated and asked to wait a moment for the manager to close the store.

"What is going on?" Jade whispered over to Kiera.

They didn't have to wait long for the manager to return. The woman entered with a stream of other women.

"Thank you for waiting." The manager waved a hand toward the other ladies she brought into the room.

"These women here are our exclusive designers. They are the most familiar with today's trends in the capital. You'll need to look no further as our business is one of the premier businesses in the city."

The manager seemed confident in their abilities but it really didn't matter to Kiera. She looked at her captain.

Jade nodded her head and the professionals began their work. Kiera was downright amazed by the number of dresses the ladies picked out for them. One by one, they went through each fitting. The process of undressing and redressing made Kiera quickly lose interest but she didn't want to show it as she was sure her captain was having fun.

"Reds look divine on you." Jade blushed and thanked the woman who complimented her. "I also like this dress as well." Jade smiled as her fingers softly brushed against the fine deep red fabric.

"Cooler tones fair better on you my dear." Kiera looked down at an older woman who had another dress in her hands for her to try on.

She let the group of women dress her in the new dress even though the dress was easy enough to slide on. Kiera liked how the women quickly gathered Kiera's strong dislike of bulky, hard-to-put-on dresses. With each dress she took off, they were able to bring another one that matched closer to what Kiera would be interested in wearing.

"General," Jade breathed out in wonder as she looked at Kiera, "you look absolutely-"

"Gorgeous." The manager interrupted her and nodded her head, completely content with the result of all of their hard work. The other ladies stepped back and admired Kiera in her dress.

The Beast General looked at herself in the mirror. The indigo colored silky material of the dress barely graced the floor as she walked in the heels the ladies made her wear. Other than the fact the dress showed off much of her shoulders and neck, she liked the design. She was used to split skirts but it seemed that was not a common design in Solomon.

"Wrap these up. We'll be taking them." She told the manager.

"Right away miss." The manager motioned for the ladies to begin helping the two out of the dresses.

"Luckily the alterations we need to make are minimal. It will only take a couple of minutes."

"That is fine. We can wait."

The alterations did not take very long, and soon their dresses and their shoes were boxed and waiting for them at the front of the shop.

"General!" Jade hurried to stop Kiera from paying. "I'll pay since I asked you to come with me today."

"Stand down Jade." Kiera turned back to the manager and proceeded to lay down a purse heavy with coin. "This much should be enough."

The manager's eyes widened at the amount inside the purse.

"This is too much milady. We only need about this much." Fortunately, the manager was not the greedy sort, as she handed the coin purse back to the general after taking the appropriate amount out.

"Thank you for your patronage. We took the liberty of hailing a carriage for you two ladies. It should be waiting out front now."

"You are very kind. Thank you." Kiera was amazed that the manager called for the carriage's footman to come inside to begin loading their boxes into the carriage.

"Please think of us when you are in need of another dress." The manager shook each of their hands with a smile.

"We will."

The Beast General and her captain entered their carriage.

"Take us to the main palace."

The coachman didn't look surprised at all as he closed the carriage door.

"Jade." She looked over to her captain as the carriage began to move.

"Yes General?"

"Did a certain blond haired prince speak to you recently?"

Kiera didn't need to hear her response as Jade's face said it all.